Notebooks

Notebooks are snapshots from our writers, reflecting on current affairs and underappreciated aspects of culture and history.

Gamal Abdul Nasser of Egypt and Hafiz Al-Assad of Syria on a warehouse in Syria.
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The long struggle for Syria

Marked by failed coups, foreign intrigue, and stubborn tyranny, Syria’s modern history captures how political ambitions and a battle for global power have continually shaped the na..

James Barr December 12, 2024
The restoration of the mosque of Mosul.
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The hunchback of Mosul

The cathedral of Notre-Dame and the mosques of Mosul and Aleppo, were shaped by centuries of cross-cultural exchange between the Christian and Islamic worlds. Their restorations re..

Ibrahim Al-Marashi December 11, 2024
Children sit on a broken statue of former Syrian President Hafez al-Assad.
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Why dictators fall

The Syrian war was part of a global conflict between tyrants and their slaves, the great struggle of our time.

Edmund Stewart December 10, 2024
A protestor in Romania holds an image of Russian President Vladimir Putin and Calin Georgescu, the independent candidate for Romanian presidency who won the first round of elections
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Russia’s shadow war for Eastern Europe

From Romania to the Balkans, Russia is waging a hybrid war of subversion, disinformation and influence in Eastern Europe's fractured societies.

Hannah Lucinda Smith December 9, 2024
Gerald Ford announcing his decision to pardon Richard Nixon, 1974.
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The fraught history of the presidential pardon

From its founding, the United States has wrestled with the scope and limits of the presidential pardon, a power in many ways more redolent of monarchy than republicanism.

Angus Brown December 5, 2024
A TV screen at a train station shows a news report on troops entering the parliament building after South Korean President Yoon Suk-Yeol's declaration of martial law
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An echo of South Korea’s past

In a dramatic test of democracy, South Korea’s parliament and citizens defied President Yoon Suk Yeol’s declaration of martial law, turning a moment of authoritarian overreach, car..

Michael Booth December 5, 2024
An Israeli soldier at a checkpoint in Lebanon during a ceasefire in 1982
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Lebanon’s ceasefires without end

Since its independence from France in 1943, Lebanon has spent decades trapped in ceasefires rather than at true peace.

Emily Whalen December 4, 2024
President Macron speaks to workers on the restoration of Notre Dame, 29 November 2024.
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The heroes of Notre-Dame’s resurrection

In what has been called 'the construction site of the century', the monumental effort of Notre-Dame's restoration stands as a testament to the power of collective vision and crafts..

Agnès Poirier December 4, 2024
Opposition fighters hold up their guns as they pose for photos under a billboard depicting Syrian President Bashar Asad in Aleppo, Syria.
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The Syrian war never really ended

The war in Syria has entered an all-bets-are-off phase of a kind unseen since 2012. But for as long as Assad remains in office, there will be no peace or stability in the wartorn c..

Kyle Orton December 2, 2024

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